1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sintered thin plate member containing a ceramic sheet, and having a uniform thickness of not less than 5 μm and not more than 100 μm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a sintered thin plate member containing a ceramic sheet has been used for various apparatuses such as a sensor, actuator, and unit cell of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), etc. (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2004-342584).
The thin plate member used for these apparatuses is extremely thin in order to achieve an object to downsize the apparatus. Therefore, the thin plate member is deformed due to external force during the process of installing the thin plate member into the apparatus or after the thin plate member is installed into the apparatus, thereby entailing various problems. For example, when the thin plate member described above is used as a unit cell of an SOFC, since the fuel flow path or air flow path formed at the portion opposite to the thin plate member is extremely narrow, a problem that the deformed thin plate member closes these flow paths might arise. Even if the thin plate member is not deformed to such a degree that closes the flow paths, there arises a problem that the pressure loss produced when fluid such as air or fuel flows through the flow paths will occur due to the deformation of the thin plate member. Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a sintered thin plate member that is difficult to be deformed with respect to external force. Further, another one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a thin plate member that is difficult to be deformed with respect to an internal stress caused by a difference in a thermal expansion coefficient between layers, when the sintered thin plate member is a laminate member.